Police Confirms 25 Killed In Benue Attack

The Police in Benue State have confirmed 25 people killed in the aftermath of attack on Omusu village in Edumoga community of Okpokpwu Local Government Area of the state.

State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said on Wednesday at a news conference in Makurdi that the figure of the people who died in the Monday afternoon incident as collated from hospitals and mortuary attendants in the affected area totaled 25 including one herder.

Owoseni explained that aside from the 24 people killed in the Idoma speaking Omusu village, a herder was also killed while another missing herder was yet to be found and that four persons were under interrogation in connection with the killings.

He further said that early that fateful Monday, the police was alerted to a situation where it was alleged that some youths in Okpokwu had engaged some herdsmen in a fight during which some coŵs were maimed while two herdsmen were found missing.

According to him, a peace meeting was immediately initiated with the Chairman of Okpopkwu LGA and the leaders of the Fulani community in the area, including the father of the two missing herders as well as the police in attendance, stressing that a police search party also went in search of the two missing herders while the meeting held.

The police commissioner however added that while the meeting was ongoing, the herders in attendance unknowingly to other attendees were not sincere in their motives as they secretly sent messages to their kinsmen elsewhere which led to the attack on the rural Omusu village.

Owoseni who said four houses were burnt during the attack vowed that the command would fish out the perpetrators by bringing them to justice and ensuring that they face the wrath of the law,